6 thoughts on “The Rules”

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Rule #1 necessitates the word prompt itself, or at least a recognizable form of the word. So fever counts for feverish – it’s the stem. Although more of a stretch, febrile would count as well, since it’s derived from the same Latin root febris and is, for all intents and purposes, identical in meaning.

The word fervor would not count. It shares nothing in common with feverish apart from a similarity in meaning and sound.

Please know that Write200 does not seek to disqualify entries. The judge of the week simply selects a winning entry based on the word prompt and rules.

Mr. Write200, I think it would be helpful if you could lay down a specific time Eastern or Pacific to be the deadline each Sunday “evening”. I found myself feverishly typing away Sunday afternoon, wondering if it was evening enough on the east coast that I might get cut off.

A great suggestion. Write200 writers & readers come around the globe – Saudi Arabia, India, Australia, Indonesia, South Africa, Japan, Finland, Romania. This would seemingly call for an entry deadline pinned to a specific timezone (GMT?).

However, the natural deadline is whenever that week’s judge happens to sit down to read that week’s entries. This should occur “Sunday evening” wherever that judge happens to be. Because the judging baton is passed from one random internet person to another, and because each person has their own Sunday routines and commitments – and because this is art, not science – we prefer to keep the deadline fluid. Write early, and submit when you can!

There’s no harm in submitting to a word prompt that’s already had a winner selected. Feel free to submit additional entries for metal, or swell, or shallow, or any of the earlier weeks. Every prompt still has the power to inspire, and you never know who may scroll through and read.